A hearing investigating the Secret Service's response to the assassination attempt on President Donald Trump came to a standstill Thursday when a shouting match broke out between the agency's acting director, Ronald Lowe, and a Republican lawmaker.
The hearing was sponsored by a House of Representatives task force created shortly after the first assassination attempt on President Trump in July and examined steps taken by the Secret Service to improve security measures for its protectees. Pat Fallon, Republican of Texas, said: A question for Rowe from another direction.
Fallon displayed a close-up photo of Joe Biden and the commemoration of the September 11 attacks in New York. and playing cards I participated at the beginning of this year. Fallon accused Rowe, who was standing directly behind Biden and Kamala Harris in the photo, of jeopardizing the president's safety to pose for the photo on behalf of the special agent in charge that day.
Lowe responded that the special agent in charge was simply out of sight and attacked Fallon for politicizing the Sept. 11 attacks.
“I actually responded to Ground Zero. I was walking through the ashes of the World Trade Center,” Lowe said.
“I didn't hear that,” Fallon interrupted, his voice hoarse. “Were you the special agent in charge?”
“I was there to honor the Secret Service members who died on 9/11,” Lowe yelled back.
Fallon said Lowe is not expected to remain in the director's post after President Trump takes office in January, but that Harris will “audition” for the role in case she is elected president. He suggested that he was in a favorable position to accept the offer.
“Don't bring up 9/11 for political purposes,” Lowe told Fallon.
“Not really,” Fallon replied. “You put the lives of President Biden and Vice President Harris in jeopardy by ousting intelligence agents,” he said in a statement.
Mr Rowe denied the charges and told Mr Fallon: “You are insane.”
The committee chairman, Republican Mike Kelly, kept banging his gavel repeatedly until the screaming died down. The heated exchange came as the Secret Service has come under intense scrutiny over its security practices following the assassination attempt on President Trump.
The agency took appropriate security precautions when a gunman injured the then-presidential candidate and shot and killed attendee Corey Comperatore at Trump's campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. was criticized for not having done so. Lowe's predecessor, Kimberly Cheatle, resigned following bipartisan criticism of her office's handling of security at rallies.
At Thursday's hearing, Lowe described the events surrounding the assassination attempt as a “total failure.”
“On July 13, the Secret Service failed to adequately secure the Butler Farm Show venue and protect President-elect Trump,” Lowe said. “That disastrous failure highlights serious deficiencies in the operations of the Secret Service, and we recognize that we have failed to meet the expectations of the American people.”
Lowe expressed his condolences to Comperatore's family and highlighted a series of reforms the agency has undertaken since the July attack, including creating an air unit to monitor shelters with drones and streamlining communications with local authorities. The outline was explained.
“Let me be clear: There will be, and there is, accountability,” Rowe told the select committee. “It is essential that we recognize the magnitude of our failures. Personally, I feel the burden of nearly losing my guardian and knowing that our failure cost the lives of my father and husband. ”
Since its creation in July, the task force has conducted 46 interviews and reviewed approximately 20,000 pages of documents, Kelly reported Thursday. The task force is expected to release a final report on its findings within the next few days.
